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Qualitative Process Evaluation of a Community-based HIV and AIDS Intervention among Adolescents in Northern Tanzania: Experiences from Community Organization. : A study from the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, East Africa

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Abstract

Abstract

Directed to address program process evaluation agenda; broadly, this study describes the intervention process for Kahe community health development Project (K-CHDP), through gathered information crucial for understanding the quality and precision with, which the program implementation was undertaken. As such, subjective experiences of implementers have been considered and created the basis for explanation of the implementation status. Through community-organizing principles, the evaluated project had been operating among adolescents in nine primary schools and in eleven villages to foster youths’ sexual and reproductive health in relation to broader context of HIV and AIDS pandemic.

The research process has employed phenomenological approach; a pure qualitative interpretative philosophy through, which key program implementation “role-players” were invited to participate. Following non-probabilistic purposive sampling and through principles of convenience and maximal variations, study respondents were selected out of the sampling frame mentioned above. Traditional data collection methods, for the design chosen, i.e. interviews, observations, memoing and document reviews provided reach experiential information needed for the formerly stated enquiries.

Besides the positive process impacts experienced among program beneficiaries; both organizational and behavioral-related issues emerged challenging school program implementers, seemingly rising out of individuals’ issues within implementers as well as from schools’ societies members. Schools’ understaffing and individual implementers’ obedience to their consciences had resulted into difficulties in integrating program agenda into schools curricular and discontinuance or cut-off implementing some program components respectively. Similarly, older youths organizing had also proven challenging to youth implementers, accounted for adolescents’ related behaviors, as well as the fact that youths’ involvement and participation into their own programs as implementers is relatively a new phenomenon just gaining acclamation from both program planners and implementers. Moreover, socio-economic and cultural issues were experienced influencing youths’ decisions making capabilities as well as ways in which these young adults view the world around them. As such, status of adolescents has been altered in this poor community, rendering for example female adolescents’ unsatisfactory involvement and participation into the program.

Generally, community organizing proved needy of high volunteerism of her citizens for likelihood of integration of program into community’s social systems. However, in situation where poverty and illiteracy are seemingly interconnected among others, such initiatives proved challenging. Further, breaking the silence-ice from parenting styles on communicating sexuality issues between parents and their youths, invited the need to have deliberative efforts towards parents’ empowerment and general community motivation. When combined all together, program duration, literally appeared shorter for full fruition, from communities points of experiences.